--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Kissinger projects a strong impression of…" description: "\"Kissinger projects a strong impression of a man at home in the world and on top of his brief. But there are a number of occasions when it suits him to ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f20/christopher-hitchens-117_candide_kissinger-projects-a-strong-impression-o_2853903.jpg" --- # Kissinger projects a strong impression of a man at home in… ![“Kissinger projects a strong impression of a man at home in the world and on top of his brief. But there are a number of occasions when it suits him to pose as a sort of Candide: naive, and ill-prepared for and easily unhorsed by events. No doubt this pose costs him something in point of…” quote by Christopher Hitchens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f20/christopher-hitchens-117_candide_kissinger-projects-a-strong-impression-o_2853903.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f20/christopher-hitchens-117_candide_kissinger-projects-a-strong-impression-o_2853903.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f20/christopher-hitchens-117_candide_kissinger-projects-a-strong-impression-o_2853903.jpg) > “Kissinger projects a strong impression of a man at home in the world and on top of his brief. But there are a number of occasions when it suits him to pose as a sort of Candide: naive, and ill-prepared for and easily unhorsed by events. No doubt this pose costs him something in point of self-esteem. It is a pose, furthermore, which he often adopts at precisely the time when the record shows him to be knowledgeable, and when knowledge or foreknowledge would also confront him with charges of responsibility or complicity.” [Christopher Hitchens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-hitchens/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Kissinger sometimes adopts a naive, unprepared persona to avoid responsibility, especially when his knowledge could implicate him. **In simple terms:** He pretends innocence to dodge accountability. Key Takeaway Beware of feigned ignorance as a defense. Themes politics responsibility image Mood critical analytical Type political philosophical When to use this quote - diplomacy - media interviews - policy decisions Key Concepts ethics public perception Questions to Reflect On - When have you hidden behind a façade? - What are the costs of avoiding accountability? A Different Perspective Such poses can erode credibility and self-respect. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Candide](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/candide/) [Complicity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/complicity/) [Doubt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/doubt/) [Esteem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/esteem/) [Events](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/events/) [Home](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/home/) [Ill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ill/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [Occasions](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/occasions/) [Responsibility](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/responsibility/) [Self](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/self/) [Self esteem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/self-esteem/) [World](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world/) ## Related quotes > [“Is it necessary to say what my first impression was when I looked at my visitor's card? Surely not! My sister having married a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wilkie-collins/is-it-necessary-to-say-what-my-first-impression-was-when-i-looked-at/) [Wilkie Collins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wilkie-collins/) > [We act and walk and speak and talk in ways that consolidate an impression of being a man or being a woman.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judith-butler/we-act-and-walk-and-speak-and-talk-in-ways-that-consolidate-an/) [Judith Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judith-butler/) > [“Every woman who makes a permanent impression on a man is afterwards recalled to his mind's eye as she appeared in one particular scene,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-hardy/every-woman-who-makes-a-permanent-impression-on-a-man-is-afterwards/) [Thomas Hardy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-hardy/) > [“See the difference between the impression a man makes on you when you walk by his side in familiar talk, or look at him…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/see-the-difference-between-the-impression-a-man-makes-on-you-when-you/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [Henry Kissinger should have the door shut in his face by every decent person and should be shamed, ostracized and excluded.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-hitchens/henry-kissinger-should-have-the-door-shut-in-his-face-by-every-decent/) [Christopher Hitchens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-hitchens/) > [A good liar must have a good memory. Kissinger is a stupendous liar with a remarkable memory.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-hitchens/a-good-liar-must-have-a-good-memory-kissinger-is-a-stupendous-liar/) [Christopher Hitchens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-hitchens/) > [“1. Bangladesh… In 1971 ... Kissinger overrode all advice in order to support the Pakistani generals in both their civilian massacre policy in East…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-hitchens/1-bangladesh-in-1971-kissinger-overrode-all-advice-in-order-to-2/) [Christopher Hitchens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-hitchens/) > [“So many of the professional foreign policy establishment, and so many of their hangers-on among the lumpen academics and journalists, had become worried by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-hitchens/so-many-of-the-professional-foreign-policy-establishment-and-so-many/) [Christopher Hitchens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-hitchens/) > [I had real plans for my next decade and felt I'd worked hard enough to earn it. Will I really not live to see…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-hitchens/i-had-real-plans-for-my-next-decade-and-felt-i-d-worked-hard-enough/) [Christopher Hitchens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-hitchens/) > [Optimism," said Cacambo, "What is that?" "Alas!" replied Candide, "It is the obstinacy of maintaining that everything is best when it is worst.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/optimism-said-cacambo-what-is-that-alas-replied-candide-it-is-the/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) > [“Everything is not as good as in El-Dorado; but everything is not so bad.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/everything-is-not-as-good-as-in-el-dorado-but-everything-is-not-so-bad/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) > [All men are by nature free; you have therefore an undoubted liberty to depart whenever you please, but will have many and great difficulties…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/all-men-are-by-nature-free-you-have-therefore-an-undoubted-liberty-to/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) > [Optimism and happiness are not the same thing, but they are becoming interchangeable, and it seemed to me that Voltaire's Candide gave me a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-ravenhill/optimism-and-happiness-are-not-the-same-thing-but-they-are-becoming/) [Mark Ravenhill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-ravenhill/) > [ “The shrieks were coming from two quite naked girls, who were pursued by a pair of apes snapping at their bottoms. \[...\] So he… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/the-shrieks-were-coming-from-two-quite-naked-girls-who-were-pursued/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) > [Rereading Candide, I was struck by the link between optimism and the optimal, the idea that we have been placed in this optimal world…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-ravenhill/rereading-candide-i-was-struck-by-the-link-between-optimism-and-the/) [Mark Ravenhill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-ravenhill/) ## More by Christopher Hitchens > [“The spirit of our accurate and exact philosophy is outraged by conclusions that contradict each other so glaringly.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-hitchens/the-spirit-of-our-accurate-and-exact-philosophy-is-outraged-by/) [Christopher Hitchens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-hitchens/) > [“Many governments employ torture but this was the first time that the element of Saturnalia and pornography in the process had been made so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-hitchens/many-governments-employ-torture-but-this-was-the-first-time-that-the/) [Christopher Hitchens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-hitchens/) > [ It's \[Los Angeles\] mostly full of nonsense and delusion and egomania. They think they'll be young and beautiful forever, even though most of them… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-hitchens/it-s-los-angeles-mostly-full-of-nonsense-and-delusion-and-egomania/) [Christopher Hitchens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-hitchens/) > [To be against rationalization is not the same as to be opposed to reasoning.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-hitchens/to-be-against-rationalization-is-not-the-same-as-to-be-opposed-to/) [Christopher Hitchens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-hitchens/) > [ \[Religion\] attacks us in our deepest integrity - the core of our self-respect. Religion says that we would not know right from wrong, we… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-hitchens/religion-attacks-us-in-our-deepest-integrity-the-core-of-our-self/) [Christopher Hitchens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-hitchens/) > [“In the very recent past, we have seen the Church of Rome befouled by its complicity with the unpardonable sin of child rape, or,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-hitchens/in-the-very-recent-past-we-have-seen-the-church-of-rome-befouled-by/) [Christopher Hitchens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-hitchens/) > [It's surprising to me how many of my friends send Christmas cards, or holiday cards, including my atheist and secular friends.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-hitchens/it-s-surprising-to-me-how-many-of-my-friends-send-christmas-cards-or/) [Christopher Hitchens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-hitchens/) > [Suppose there were groups of secularists at hospitals who went round the terminally ill and urged them to adopt atheism: 'Don't be a mug…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-hitchens/suppose-there-were-groups-of-secularists-at-hospitals-who-went-round/) [Christopher Hitchens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-hitchens/) > [There are, after all, atheists who say they wish the fable were true but are unable to suspend the requisite disbelief, or who have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-hitchens/there-are-after-all-atheists-who-say-they-wish-the-fable-were-true/) [Christopher Hitchens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-hitchens/) > [“It isn’t so long since a test of Anglican orthodoxy was applied to anyone seeking to study or teach at Oxford and Cambridge universities.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-hitchens/it-isn-t-so-long-since-a-test-of-anglican-orthodoxy-was-applied-to/) [Christopher Hitchens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-hitchens/) > [Gullibility and credulity are considered undesireable qualities in every department of human life - except religion ... Why are we praised by godly men…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-hitchens/gullibility-and-credulity-are-considered-undesireable-qualities-in/) [Christopher Hitchens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-hitchens/) > [It's much worse to see a woman drunk than a man: I don't know quite why this is true but it just is. Don't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-hitchens/it-s-much-worse-to-see-a-woman-drunk-than-a-man-i-don-t-know-quite/) [Christopher Hitchens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-hitchens/) > [It's true that obscenity is a matter of taste and in the eye of the beholder.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-hitchens/it-s-true-that-obscenity-is-a-matter-of-taste-and-in-the-eye-of-the/) [Christopher Hitchens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-hitchens/) > [I worked out early on to give up things I couldn't do well at all.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-hitchens/i-worked-out-early-on-to-give-up-things-i-couldn-t-do-well-at-all/) [Christopher Hitchens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-hitchens/) > [Writing is what's important to me, and anything that helps me do that - or enhances and prolongs and deepens and sometimes intensifies argument…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-hitchens/writing-is-what-s-important-to-me-and-anything-that-helps-me-do-that/) [Christopher Hitchens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-hitchens/) [Explore all 1,241 Christopher Hitchens quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-hitchens/) ## More Candide quotes > [Rereading Candide, I was struck by the link between optimism and the optimal, the idea that we have been placed in this optimal world…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-ravenhill/rereading-candide-i-was-struck-by-the-link-between-optimism-and-the/) [Mark Ravenhill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-ravenhill/) > [ “The shrieks were coming from two quite naked girls, who were pursued by a pair of apes snapping at their bottoms. \[...\] So he… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/the-shrieks-were-coming-from-two-quite-naked-girls-who-were-pursued/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) > [Optimism and happiness are not the same thing, but they are becoming interchangeable, and it seemed to me that Voltaire's Candide gave me a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-ravenhill/optimism-and-happiness-are-not-the-same-thing-but-they-are-becoming/) [Mark Ravenhill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-ravenhill/) > [All men are by nature free; you have therefore an undoubted liberty to depart whenever you please, but will have many and great difficulties…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/all-men-are-by-nature-free-you-have-therefore-an-undoubted-liberty-to/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) > [“Everything is not as good as in El-Dorado; but everything is not so bad.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/everything-is-not-as-good-as-in-el-dorado-but-everything-is-not-so-bad/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) > [Optimism," said Cacambo, "What is that?" "Alas!" replied Candide, "It is the obstinacy of maintaining that everything is best when it is worst.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/optimism-said-cacambo-what-is-that-alas-replied-candide-it-is-the/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) > [Dogs, monkeys, and parrots are a thousand times less miserable than we are.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/dogs-monkeys-and-parrots-are-a-thousand-times-less-miserable-than-we/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) > [You're a bitter man," said Candide. That's because I've lived," said Martin.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/you-re-a-bitter-man-said-candide-that-s-because-i-ve-lived-said-martin/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) > [“It is man´s faith to live either on agonies of fear and turmoil or in the prostration of boredom.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/it-is-man-s-faith-to-live-either-on-agonies-of-fear-and-turmoil-or-in/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) > [Hyper-selectionism has been with us for a long time in various guises; for it represents the late nineteenth century's scientific version of the myth…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-jay-gould/hyper-selectionism-has-been-with-us-for-a-long-time-in-various-guises/) [Stephen Jay Gould](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-jay-gould/) > [I should like to know which is worse: to be ravished a hundred times by pirates, and have a buttock cut off, and run…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/i-should-like-to-know-which-is-worse-to-be-ravished-a-hundred-times/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) > [What! Have you no monks to teach, to dispute, to govern, to intrigue and to burn people who do not agree with them?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/what-have-you-no-monks-to-teach-to-dispute-to-govern-to-intrigue-and/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) > [Excellently observed", answered Candide; "but let us cultivate our garden.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/excellently-observed-answered-candide-but-let-us-cultivate-our-garden/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) > [We must cultivate our own garden.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/we-must-cultivate-our-own-garden/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) > [“I have no more than twenty acres of ground," he replied, "the whole of which I cultivate myself with the help of my children;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/i-have-no-more-than-twenty-acres-of-ground-he-replied-the-whole-of/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) [Browse all 32 Candide quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/candide/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Kissinger projects a strong impression of a man at home in the world and on top of his brief. But there are a number of occasions when it suits him to pose as a sort of Candide: naive, and ill-prepared for and easily unhorsed by events. No doubt this pose costs him something in point of self-esteem. It is a pose, furthermore, which he often adopts at precisely the time when the record shows him to be knowledgeable, and when knowledge or foreknowledge would also confront him with charges of responsibility or complicity.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Christopher Hitchens" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-hitchens/kissinger-projects-a-strong-impression-of-a-man-at-home-in-the-world/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Candide" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-hitchens/kissinger-projects-a-strong-impression-of-a-man-at-home-in-the-world/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f20/christopher-hitchens-117_candide_kissinger-projects-a-strong-impression-o_2853903.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f20/christopher-hitchens-117_candide_kissinger-projects-a-strong-impression-o_2853903.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f20/christopher-hitchens-117_candide_kissinger-projects-a-strong-impression-o_2853903.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Kissinger projects a strong impression of a man at home in the world and on top of his brief. But there are…” — Christopher Hitchens", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Christopher Hitchens", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-hitchens/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Kissinger projects a strong impression of...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-hitchens/kissinger-projects-a-strong-impression-of-a-man-at-home-in-the-world/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-hitchens/kissinger-projects-a-strong-impression-of-a-man-at-home-in-the-world/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```